§ 38. Lord APSLEYasked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the fact that motor lorries, omnibuses, and chars-a-bane continually exceed the statutory speed limit, and that many of them have scheduled runs which do not permit them running at sustained speeds under an average of 20 to 25 miles an hour; and whether, in view of the damage to the roads, danger to the public, and strain on the drivers necessarily imposed by their long and regular runs at high speed, he will consider making some such regulation as the fitting of governors to the engines of all heavy motor vehicles, preventing them from exceeding a speed of 30 miles per hour?
§ The MINISTER of TRANSPORT (Colonel Ashley)The question of the automatic limitation of speed by mechanical means so as to prevent vehicles from exceeding the appropriate speed limit was fully considered by the Departmental Committee on the Taxation and Regulation of Road Vehicles. Apart from the question of the desirability of such a course on grounds of public safety, the Committee were of the opinion that it was impracticable, both on account of the engineering difficulties and the expense involved and of the facility with which such a mechanical arrangement could be tampered with or altered.